On November 12, 2023, Israeli security forces arrested Palestinian journalist Momen al-Halabi, new media editor at the pro-Islamic Jihad Al-Quds Radio, at a checkpoint near Gaza City’s Kuwait roundabout as he was trying to flee south, according to the Beirut-based press freedom group SKeyes and Al-Halabi’s wife, Safaa al-Jaabari.
Al-Jaabari, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app, said the family had been forced to leave Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighborhood for southern Gaza on October 14, but Al-Halabi stayed behind to report on the war.
“He hadn’t seen us for a month so he decided to flee as well. And it didn’t occur to us that he might be arrested because he is a journalist and has nothing to do with military work. But unfortunately, he was arrested,” she said.
Al-Jaabari said that a human rights lawyer told her that the journalist had initially been held in Israel’s Sde Teiman and Petah Tikva detention centers and the West Bank’s Ofer prison. Since March 2024, he has been in southern Israel’s Nafha prison, 62 miles south of Beersheba, under the Incarceration of Unlawful Combatants Law, which allows authorities to extend detention indefinitely or until a ceasefire is reached, she was told. The journalist has not been charged with any crime.
According to Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, the law allows Israel to hold detainees for long periods of time without charge and with limited access to legal counsel. B’Tselem described overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, and abuse at Israeli prison facilities housing Palestinian journalists.
On December 25, 2025, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Media Office in Gaza reported that Al-Halabi was experiencing severe maltreatment at Ramon prison, also known as Ganot prison. Al-Halabi was said to have developed several blood clots in his left foot that require medical attention, which he is allegedly being denied.
In addition to inadequate food, Al-Halabi was facing harsh weather conditions in prison without adequate clothes or blankets, as well as being denied access to a Quran in a clear breach of religious freedom.
CPJ contacted al-Halabi’s wife, Safaa al-Jaabari, again in March 2026, when she confirmed that the journalist is still held in Ramon/Ganot prison under the Unlawful Combatants Law, with no charges presented against him. She said he still was not receiving the necessary medical care.
Al-Jaabari told CPJ that the latest extension to the journalist’s imprisonment was in December 2025 for six months, confirming that throughout the duration of his detention, he was only allowed two lawyer visits,.
Al-Jaabari told CPJ that Israeli airstrikes destroyed their family home in Gaza City in December, killing Al-Halabi's father and brother.
Raed Obeid, director of Al-Quds Radio, told CPJ via messaging app that Al-Halabi had worked for the station since 2020 and remained committed to his work until it stopped broadcasting because of the siege of Gaza City in November.
Al-Halabi was not included in CPJ’s December 1, 2023 prison census because the organization was not aware of his arrest at the time.
CPJ’s email to the Israeli Prison Services (IPS) for comment on the conditions of al-Halabi’s imprisonment received the response that “all prisoners are detained according to the law,” and that “all basic rights required are fully applied,” claiming they are unaware of the allegations of mistreatment and saying that prisoners have the right to file a complaint.